


Beyond the Shatterdome: A Carmilla/Pacific Rim Alternative Universe Tale

by BigMammaLlama5, MicheTS



Series: PRAU: A Carmilla Pacific Rim Adventure [5]
Category: Carmilla - J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-18 02:51:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4689629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigMammaLlama5/pseuds/BigMammaLlama5, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MicheTS/pseuds/MicheTS
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny and Kirsch come to the Shatterdome to help out when Carmilla is injured in a freak accident. You see, when your nickname is duck and someone is shagging golf balls in the hanger bay, shouting duck isn't really as helpful as shouting fore. So what happens when Carm' is grounded and Danny comes to help pilot Panthera Omicron? Well...read on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Who Are These Assholes?

Carmilla eyed the transport that had just pulled in to the Shatterdome warily.

 

“I did not think it was possible for someone to glare so intently with only one good eye,” Laura said, staring at her co-pilot in disbelief.

 

Carmilla turned to face her, unable to look at Laura without turning her whole body, “I just don’t see why they have to bring in some other Ranger to pilot with you. I can do this.” She said obviously frustrated by the situation.

 

Laura sighed, they’d been over this so many times since Carmilla had gotten beaned in the eye with a golf ball two weeks ago. It was just plain dangerous to have her control a Jaeger when she had an ocular compound fracture and was wearing an eye patch over her right eye to combat double vision.

 

Carmilla returned to glaring at the transport as it unloaded.

 

“Hey Carm’, what’s a horny pirate’s worst nightmare?”

 

Carmilla huffed. If Laura told her one more pirate joke she was going to lock her out of their bunk and petition for a new co-pilot.

 

“A sunken chest with no booty!” Laura nudged Carmilla and laughed at her own joke, “Hah! I saw that, you useless one-eyed Jaeger pilot. You almost laughed.”

 

“Did not,” Carmilla crossed her arms across her chest and sulked. She did not take being grounded well. She certainly didn’t take to someone else piloting _her_ Jaeger with _her_ co-pilot, “Who are these assholes we’re waiting on again?”

 

Laura nudged Carmilla again, but this time in a more chastising manner, “They’re not assholes, they’re my friends and I swear to god if you’re not nice I won’t do that thing you like again.”

 

“What? Clean the bunk?” Carmilla replied in mock horror.

 

Laura rolled her eyes at Carmilla’s answer, “They’re here!” Laura let out an excited squeal and took off across the hanger.

 

Carmilla watched from where they were both previously standing as Laura launched herself at two Rangers who had hopped off the transport. She rankled slightly as they grabbed Laura with an arm each and hauled her off her feet into a giant hug. They were so tall compared to her little co-pilot that Laura looked like a kid greeting her parents coming home from camp.

 

Laura dragged her friends across the hanger to where Carmilla had remained, chattering excitedly the whole time she did, “…and this is my…”she faltered slightly, unsure how to introduce Carmilla. They haven’t had that talk. Are they dating? Girlfriends?

 

“I’m your co-pilot, Cutie,” Carmilla said smirking and coming to Laura’s rescue as she blushed, “Carmilla,” she introduced herself extending her hand.

 

“Kirsch,” the giant with the beard introduced himself first, gripping Carmilla’s hand firmly with his big paw and shaking it.

 

“Which makes you Danny Lawrence, “Carmilla looked the tall redhead up and down and crossed her arms against her chest again, making it perfectly clear she wasn’t going to greet Danny the same way. Laura hadn’t mentioned Danny was so…statuesque.

 

“And you’re the infamous Carmilla Karnstein,” Danny replied mirroring Carmilla’s standoffish pose.

 

Laura looked between the two of them nervously. She then eyed Kirsch but was met with a shrug; he knew better than to get involved when Danny had that look on her face. This was going to be a challenge.


	2. Hey Jealousy

“Feet off the table Karnstein!” the Marshall barked as he entered the briefing room and clipped Carmilla on the back of her head with his mission brief.

Danny tried her hardest not to smirk at the reprimand as they all stood to salute Marshall Karnstein.

“At ease,” he said and everyone took their seats, “It’s a pleasure to finally have you Rangers with us,” 

Carmilla snorted derisively which earned her a withering look from her brother and a sharp kick under the table from Laura. 

“Karnstein, you’re here as a courtesy, if you can’t stop being disruptive you can leave the briefing.” Will said as he sat down.

Carmilla held her hands up in surrender and sank into her chair. There was that smirk again from Danny Lawrence. Wonderful, brave Danny Lawrence that Laura hadn’t shut up about since she found out that’s who they were bringing in to help her pilot Panthera Omicron. Carmilla was sure the word genius had been used at some point.

Carmilla watched Laura closely as Will ran through the mission brief. They were escorting some super important biological material from Hong Kong to the Shatterdome in Tokyo. It should be routine. It shouldn’t be any hassle. It would just be time consuming due to the volatile nature of the material; it couldn’t be flown there. Carmilla was slightly perplexed how sending it by boat was more stable, but she was used to doing what she was told without questioning it. Mostly.

As Marshall Karnstein went on to ask how the test drift ran that morning, Carmilla snuck a glance at Kirsch. The big idiot did not seem phased at all by the fact that his co-pilot was enthusiastically blathering about how great the test drift had gone. To be fair she wasn’t sure if he was thinking about anything at all. Colour her jealous, but Carmilla did not like the thought of anyone in Laura’s head but her.


	3. First Point Wins

Carmilla shook her head resolutely, “No,”

“Oh come on Carm’” Laura whined as she tried to spin a basketball on her finger, failing every attempt.

“What part of I have no depth perception are you not getting here, Cupcake?” Carmilla said pulling her knees up to her chest, trying to pay attention to the book in her hand, “Plus there’s the matter of the height difference.”

Kirsch stuck his head round the bunk door and chimed in, “You don’t need depth perception to play basketball Karnstein, just make sure you pivot a lot.” He smiled what Danny referred to as his shit-eating grin, “Plus we’ll split up the teams, one tiny, one tall!”

Carmilla huffed in response. When she felt a rush of air skim past her ear and a blur of orange smack the wall next to her she ducked and turned sharply to see Danny catch the ball Laura had been fooling around with,

“Come on guys, Karnstein is clearly too chicken to play a little two on two,” Danny bounced the ball a few times on the hard concrete of the hall as Carmilla glared at her.

Laura rolled her eyes and stepped forward towards Carmilla’s bed, “Carm’, come on, please. We leave tomorrow. Come have some fun with us.” 

Carmilla shook her head no again.

Laura bent a little so she was close to Carmilla’s ear and whispered, “I’ll make it worth your while, Duck.”

Carmilla blushed and tried her best to stifle a giggle. Carmilla Karnstein did not giggle, “Fine, fine, I’ll play,” She said, swinging her legs off the bed and standing, “But I’m on his team.”

Laura jumped up and down excitedly, “To the court!” She pointed and charged out of their bunk, grabbing the ball from Danny as she went.

Ten minutes into the game it was clear that playing two on two with a set of drift compatible co-pilots was completely and utterly infuriating. Neither team could catch a break because the other was anticipating their actions. When Carmilla knocked the ball from Laura’s hands out of bounds for the umpteenth time, Laura called for time out,

“This is ridiculous,” she said leaning her hands on her knees and trying to catch her breath,

“You were the one who insisted we play,” Carmilla smirked and took a long drag of water.

“Yeah, but…” Laura trailed off, she didn’t really have a point.

Carmilla shrugged and grabbed the ball, “I can’t help it if I know the way you move Cutie,” She waggled he eyebrows suggestively and accepted the high five that Kirsch offered.

Laura rolled her eyes, sports clearly brought out the bro in Carmilla.

“Ok, screw this,” Danny said pushing some stray hair out of her eyes, “we play for another fifteen minutes, first point wins. If no one scores, we go to the mess and play darts to decide a winner.”

“Sudden death,” Kirsch took the ball from Carmilla and moved to the sideline where the ball had gone out of play, “I like it!”

He passed the ball to Carmilla to start the game again. She dribbled to mid-court and easily side stepped Laura to pass back to Kirsch as he ran to the far corner. Carmilla had to stop herself from laughing; she was convinced if Laura scrunched her nose up any harder it was going to get stuck that way.

Kirsch heaved a 3-point attempt, no good. He grumbled as it circled the rim and rebounded into Carmilla’s hands, seeing a gap in Danny’s coverage he pivoted and grabbed Carmilla by the waist. Grunting, he hoisted her towards the net.

With a satisfying swish, Carmilla dunked the ball. She held on to the rim and swung there, a smug smile spreading across her face.

“No way!” Danny yelled shoving Kirsch less than playfully, “That doesn’t count.”

“Does too,” Carmilla said flipping Danny the bird and laughing as Kirsch helped her back to solid ground.


	4. Not Good at Goodbyes

Carmilla could hear Laura shuffling about in their bunk. Her little co-pilot had been intentionally banging things and clearing her throat at random intervals for the last ten minutes. Carmilla stayed still, face down on the bed, with her head buried under Laura’s yellow pillow. If she didn’t move, she wasn’t awake and she didn’t have to say goodbye. To Laura or their Jaeger.

“I know you’re awake,” Laura huffed as she sat on the edge of Carmilla’s bed and pulled her boots on, “You’re a dumb, stubborn, one-eyed Jaeger pilot.”

Carmilla screwed her eyes shut and tried to shut out the sound of Laura’s voice. If she couldn’t hear Laura, she couldn’t miss Laura, especially if she never came back.

Laura grabbed her pillow off Carmilla’s head and smacked her with it,

“Hey!” Carmilla growled, “Some of us are trying to sleep here.” She went to grab the pillow back but Laura stepped out the way. 

Laura threw the pillow back up on to her bed out of Carmilla’s reach and huffed, “Carm’ don’t. Can’t we please just have a nice goodbye and say I’ll see you in three weeks?”

Carmilla turned her back to Laura and pulled her blankets up to her chin in response.

“Seriously?!” Laura asked incredulously, “Come on Duck,” She knelt by the bed and placed her hand gently on Carmilla’s shoulder. She tried to swallow the lump forming in her throat when Carmilla shrugged her hand off instantly, “Fine.” Laura stood and placed her aviators on her head, “I’ll see you in three weeks.”

Carmilla rolled on to her back and let out a slow breath once she heard the bunk door slam shut. Jaeger pilots don’t cry, or at least try not to.


	5. Those We Leave Behind

“Hey there tiny and broody,” Kirsch entered the Mess and slumped on the sofa next to Carmilla.

“Tall and optimistically cheerful,” she replied, not taking her eyes off the news feed on the wall mounted TV.

“Meh,” Kirsch replied, absentmindedly stroking his beard.

She reached into the cooler by her feet and offered him a beer; he looked just like how she felt. 

Kirsch gratefully accepted, twisting off the cap and clinking his bottle off hers. “I came in here hoping to get away from that,” Kirsch said pointing his beer bottle at the TV accusingly.

“I want to stop watching it and I can’t,” Carmilla said sighing, “Can you imagine if I’d gone? I’d have punched someone by now.”

Kirsch laughed and peered over at the cooler full of beer by her feet, “Celebrating or commiserating?”

“Notice anything different about my face, Beefcake?” Carmilla asked, gesturing with her finger round her now patch-free eye.

“Oh shit, you do have two eyes after all!” Kirsch exclaimed in mock shock, throwing Carmilla a high five, “That doesn’t answer my question though.”

Carmilla drained the last of her beer in one gulp and reached for another, “Little bit of both,” she twisted the cap off the bottle and flicked it disdainfully towards the TV, “Doc Perry has cleared me for duty, but I’m stuck here with no Jaeger and no co-pilot.”

“I miss mine too,” Kirsch said as he watched images of Laura and Danny greeting crowds and hand-shaking cycle through the news feed. 

Danny and Laura’s escort mission had gone smoothly and seemingly had now turned in to some sort of glorified excuse for a PR stunt. Carmilla couldn’t help but wonder if that had been the intention all along.

“Your Jaeger?” Carmilla asked,

“No Karnstien you dolt, my co-pilot.” Kirsch smiled as he heard Carmilla scoff in response, “Is it true you call her Goose?”

Carmilla nodded and kept her gaze on the TV. She was trying her hardest to ignore the jealousy curdling in her stomach. She watched the way Laura and Danny stood, hips both cocked to the right, hell, even their hair was braided the same way. It was taking all her will power not to launch her beer bottle at the TV, the news ticker at the bottom of the screen showing speculation about the nature of their relationship.

“Does that make you Maverick?” Kirsch asked, trying to pull Carmilla’s attention from the TV. He could see she was starting to stew internally and he had a good idea what about.

“Something like that,” Carmilla smiled to herself, she never thought she’d miss someone calling her ‘Duck’.

“Right. Enough.” Kirsch got to his feet and blocked Carmilla’s view of the TV, “I cannot stand this sad sack bullshit version of you that is going on right now.”

He grabbed Carmilla under the arms and lifted her grumbling up in the air so they were face to face. Carmilla threw her head back dramatically and went limp in his arms, pretending she was dead,

“Let’s go for an adventure!” Kirsch shook her lightly for emphasis.

“Don’t you Rangers have anything better to do than loiter in the Mess?”

Carmilla and Kirsch turned their heads sharply to see Marshall Karnstein glowering in the doorway.

“DAY OFF!” They both barked in unison.

Carmilla added a sickly sweet, “Sir,” to the end of her sentence. It took all her willpower to resist the urge to flip her little brother off. He was after all her superior officer.

Marshall Karnstein hesitated a moment in the doorway before simply sighing and moving on.

“Your bro is an uptight bro, bro.” Kirsch said as he put Carmilla down on to solid ground.

“I know,” she replied shrugging, she knew she was serious, but Will was serious on a whole other level, “So you mentioned an adventure?”

Kirsch nodded and smiled enthusiastically.

“Ok, ok,” Carmilla groaned, pointing at the cooler, “but that’s coming with us.”

Kirsch smiled from ear to ear and nodded, if he was being honest he thought that was a given.


	6. Leaving On a Jet Plane

Laura sat flicking through the pictures on her tablet, trying her best to keep a goofy grin from spreading across her face. Kirsch and Carmilla had sent them an email a week ago entitled ‘Come Home Soon, We Require Adult Supervision’. Laura had a good idea that they had been smashed based on the pictures and their progressively ridiculous nature.

Carmilla sat on Kirsch’s back as he did push ups, Carmilla and Kirsch having some sort of pull up competition, one that Carmilla clearly won from the smug look on her face, Kirsch and Carmilla singing karaoke in the mess hall, Kirsch passed out with an absurd looking dick drawn on his forehead; and then there was her favourite. 

It had come in an email addressed only to her a day before they left Japan, entitled ‘DON’T SHOW THIS TO DANNY’. Laura opened it hoping for a Nudy Judy or two, but laughed hard through her disappointment all the same. The attached picture series showed Carmilla and Kirsch grinning like idiots as they shaved his beard into a handlebar moustache. The last picture showing Carmilla with the shavings stuck to her face in the same formation. Danny is going to kill him. Or Carmilla. Or them both, yeah, most likely both of them.

They were thankfully flying back to Hong Kong with Panthera Omicron to follow shortly. A mercilessly short four-hour flight compared to the journey there. Ten minutes to go and they’d be home. Laura shut her tablet off and nudged a sleeping Danny awake, 

“No, you can’t stick it there,” she mumbled as she opened her eyes,

“Excuse me?” Laura laughed

“Oh fuck,” Danny said stretching her arms, “I was dreaming about…”

“I don’t even want to know Ranger,” Laura laughed again and busied herself with getting ready to land. 

She idly fidgeted with the duck charm hanging from her dog tags; she found it hanging from her console in Panthera Omicron the morning they left. Carmilla might have been terrible at goodbyes, but was clearly the master of sneak presents.

Laura was glad that Kirsch had been there while she wasn’t. With the way they said goodbye, she’d been terrified Carmilla would spend the entire three weeks brooding. She ran her finger over the charm again; she’d started to think of it as her lucky ducky.


	7. Home Sweet Home

“Did you feel that?” Kirsch asked as he looked to the hanger bay.

“Feel what?” Carmilla replied as she fussed with her hair.

“A disturbance in the force?”

“You’re an idiot,” she stopped fussing with her hair and handed him a cigar from her pocket.

“No, for real, I think they’re here.” He said stroking his new moustache nervously. He was almost 100% sure Danny would make him shave it off straight away.

Carmilla smiled, “You saw the plane circle round before landing.”

“Damn it!” he laughed, “You saw it too?”

She nodded and fussed with her shirt collar.

“Stop fussing. You look hot.”

“I’m not fu-“ Carmilla stopped mid-sentence as she saw Laura and Danny enter the hanger from the runway. She turned to finish what she was saying but Kirsch had already taken off across the hanger. ‘Guess he did miss his co-pilot,’ she thought as she watched Kirsch sweep Danny off her feet and kiss her in front of half the Shatterdome, much to Danny’s horror.

Laura tried not to blush as Carmilla met her at half the distance that had separated them, “Hey,” she said, taking in the sight before her, “you wore your dress blues for me?”

“Laundry day,” Carmilla offered, trying to play it cool, “I had nothing else to wear.”

“Sure,” Laura said, stepping closer and tugging at the lapels of Carmilla’s jacket, “This, this is…it’s a good look.”

Carmilla looked at her feet and tried to think about what she was about to say, “Laura, I’m so-“

Laura cut her off by placing her index finger against Carmilla’s lips. She looked Carmilla in the eye and shook her head. She didn’t need to hear an apology, “You can make it up to me later,” Laura linked her arm in Carmilla’s and started to lead them towards their bunk, “And by later I mean now.”

Carmilla smirked and quickened their pace; you didn’t need to tell her twice.


End file.
